Last week we looked at the basic Christian beliefs about God. This week we will be looking at the basic beliefs about who Jesus is.
A few things about the humanity of Jesus:
- Jesus was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-24).
- Jesus had a real human body (Luke 2:7).
- Jesus had a human mind (Hebrews 5:8).
- Jesus had a human soul and human emotions (John 12:27).
- Jesus was without sin (1 Peter 2:22).
- Jesus will be a man forever (Luke 24:39-42).
The humanity of Jesus was necessary for representative obedience showing us how to obey God (Romans 5:18-19), to be a substitute sacrifice (Hebrews 2:16-17), to be the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), to fulfill God’s purpose for man to rule over creation (Hebrews 2:8), to be our example and pattern in life (1 John 2:6), to be the pattern for our redeemed bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44), and to be our High Priest (Hebrews 2:18).
A few things about the deity of Jesus:
- Scripture states that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1).
- Scripture calls Jesus the “Lord” (Matthew 13:27). The term for Jesus as Lord used in the New Testament is translated 6,184 time in the Greek Old Testament to refer to Yahweh.
- Jesus claimed to be God using the same reference to himself that God used when speaking to Moses in the burning bush (John 8:57-58).
- Jesus is all-powerful (Matthew 8:26-27).
- Jesus is all-knowing (John 16:30).
- Jesus was still everywhere present even while on earth (Matthew 18:20).
Jesus is fully God and fully man, yet he is only 1 person. He took humanity upon himself without sacrificing any of his deity.
A few things about the office of Christ:
- Christ is prophet. He speaks the words of God.
- Christ is priest. He offered the perfect sacrifice for sin (himself), he brings us near to God, and he continually prays for us.
- Christ is king. He has complete authority over all believers (and all of creation).
Now that we have looked at who Christ is, next week we will be looking at the work of Christ especially what he did on the cross.
